CS Video: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Despite its rather bulky title, Lorene Scafaria’s Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is more than just the typical big budget thriller about a coming apocalypse, since it’s more about how different people react to learning that an asteroid is heading our way which will destroy the earth in three weeks.

Specifically, it’s about insurance salesman Dodge Petersen (Steve Carell), who is still going about his day-to-day life after his wife left him. An encounter with his flaky neighbor Penny (Keira Knightley) sends the two of them on a cross-country journey to find Dodge’s high school sweetheart who has written him a letter wanting to see him again.

Those expecting something like what we’ve seen from monster budget FX-meisters like Roland Emmerich and Michael Bay may be disappointed by the film’s low-key approach to the apocalypse, but those looking for the type of characterization and performances normally reserved for indie films should enjoy how Scafaria and her two leads have created a comedy that that starts out dark and cynical but then grows more heartwarming as it goes along. (You can read our review here.)

ComingSoon.net attended the New York City junket and spoke with Scafaria, Carell and Knightley about how the project got going and how they developed their characters and relationships. You can hear what they had to say about the dark romantic comedy in the video interviews below, then stick around for a longer interview with the filmmaker:

As promised, we also have a separate phone interview we did with Ms. Scafaria a couple days later, which you can read below:

ComingSoon.net: How long ago did you actually start writing this? I knew about it when we talked for “Nick and Norah”